Leah Remini

Leah Marie Remini (/ˈrɛmɪni/; born June 15, 1970) is an American actress. She starred as Carrie Heffernan on the CBS sitcom The King of Queens (1998–2007) and as Vanessa Celluci in the CBS sitcom Kevin Can Wait (2017–2018), both alongside Kevin James.

After being a member of the Church of Scientology from childhood, Remini left the organization in 2013. Two years later, Remini released her book, Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology; the memoir became number one on the New York Times Best Seller list. From 2016 to 2019, Remini coproduced and hosted the A&E documentary series Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, for which she won two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special. Since July 2020, Remini has been the cohost of the podcast Scientology: Fair Game, alongside Mike Rinder. She also cohosted the daytime talk show The Talk (2010–2011) and hosted the game show People Puzzler (2021–2023). Remini's films include the comedy Old School (2003), the mystery comedy Handsome (2017), and the romantic comedy Second Act (2018).

Remini was born on June 15, 1970, in Brooklyn, New York City, to Vicki Marshall and George Remini, who owned an asbestos removal company. Her mother is of Austrian Jewish descent, while her father has Italian ancestry, rooted in Sicily. Remini was raised in Bensonhurst.

Remini was baptized into the Catholic Church as an infant and raised in the faith during her early childhood. When she was 8, her mother joined the Church of Scientology, and Remini was thereafter raised as a Scientologist. At 13, Remini and her sister were taken to join Scientology's Paramilitary organization called the Sea Organization, where they were forced to sign billion-year contracts and work for their room and board.

Remini's mother decided to take her children out of the Sea Org and return to civilian Scientology life within the same year. Remini moved to Los Angeles, with her mother and sisters, where she spent the remainder of her teenage years working to pay off their debt to Scientology for all of their auditing received. In addition, Remini and her family worked regular jobs to pay for continuing Scientology courses and services.

One of Remini's early television roles was on Who's the Boss? as Charlie Briscoe, which led to a spin-off series entitled Living Dolls, in which Remini starred with Halle Berry. The show premiered in late 1989 and ran for twelve episodes. In 1991, Remini had a supporting role as Tina Bovasso on ABC's sitcom The Man in the Family. She then had recurring roles on Saved by the Bell playing Stacey Carosi, and on Evening Shade as Taylor Newton's (Jay R. Ferguson) girlfriend, Daisy. Remini then appeared in two more short-lived series, First Time Out (1995) and Fired Up (1997–98).

In 1991 and 1993, she appeared on Cheers as Serafina, the daughter of Carla and Nick Tortelli (Rhea Perlman and Dan Hedaya). In 1994, Remini auditioned for the role of Monica Geller on Friends, but the role went to Courteney Cox. Remini later appeared in the 1995 Friends episode "The One with the Birth" in which she played a pregnant woman, Lydia, whose delivery is aided by Joey Tribbiani. In 1998, Remini landed the role of Carrie Heffernan on the CBS sitcom The King of Queens. The series was successful, and ran for nine seasons from September 21, 1998, to May 14, 2007. During her time on the show, she starred in Quaker State's television commercials in 2000 and 2001. During this time she also co-starred in the Lorenzo Doumani film Follow Your Heart, which was filmed in 1996 but not released until 1998.

Remini had a supporting role in the comedy film Old School (2003). She also starred in her own reality show, Inside Out: Leah Remini, which was a documentary that aired on VH1 about Remini's wedding. Following the success of the wedding special, VH1 documented the next phase of their lives with the birth of her daughter Sofia Bella. Remini has starred in nine-episode webisodes of In the Motherhood, along with Chelsea Handler and Jenny McCarthy, and made two guest appearances on Handler's talk show Chelsea Lately. On December 15, 2009, Remini appeared as Heffernan on Lopez Tonight with George Lopez in an episode reuniting the cast of the George Lopez sitcom. Remini and Holly Robinson Peete appeared on The Young and the Restless on July 28, 2011.